With a large slate of contenders on both the Republican and Democratic sides, the primary picture is shaping up. And with polling data and debates in full swing, the candidates have begun the tried and true tactic of eating their own. Destroying an opponent's facts, character, and bad hairpiece has always been a tactic in Presidential races. And when candidates aren't doing it, their supporters are. But is it a good thing?

Chairman of the House Corrections Committee, Hon. Jerry Madden (R-Plano) has filed HB 1678, which would change probation terms and sentencing for non-violent offenders.

This one flew under the radar, so I think we need to revisit it for posterity.

Courtesy of the Colony Courier Leader:

Larry Dale Floyd was sentenced to a possible life sentence at a hearing in a Colorado court Tuesday.

Monday Jan. 29

Since the minimum wage issue is up for vote again, I decided to write my Senator (I already wrote KBH last year and got a small business sob story). So since I've never actually written Senator Cornyn before, I figured I would try this out on him.

To cap off the week, I didn't want to let this one slip under the radar.

Former Congressman Bob Ney (R-OH) was just sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for accepting golf trips, sports tickets, free meals and campaign donations from lobbyist Jack Abramoff in exchange for political favors. The AP article quoted U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle as saying, "You violated a host of laws that you as a congressman are sworn to enforce and uphold".

In yet another case of "hell freezing over" moments, 2 more Texas Republicans voted yes on a bill in the Congress yesterday.

The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act was approved on a 253-174 vote in Congress. In a slightly more partisan vote than the mimimum wage, 37 Republicans voted for the bill, while 16 Democrats opposed it. The stunner is that our own Smokey Joe Barton (TX-6) and Kay Granger (TX-12) voted to pass the bill, along with their TX Democratic colleagues.

The 110th Congress has only been in session for a few days, and already some Republicans are breaking rank and voting alongside Democrats. I truly did not expect this, but 82 Republicans in the House voted to pass the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. Two of them are from Texas.

Congressman Ted Poe (TX-2) and Congressman Kenny Marchant (TX-24) actually went against their party's position, and vote Yea on the matter. This comes as a shock to me, considering Marchant voted with the party line 99% of the time in his previous term.